Management by deck

There are many companies today whose main output is no longer developing products and services that meet the needs of their customers. The main role of many formerly-proud American businesses today is the business of developing PowerPoint presentations. I call it "management by deck."

No matter the level of the exec, excepting the CEO who is the ultimate recipient of many of these efforts, the entire enterprise is based on developing decks. Teams of individuals put together the initial effort.

Their manager then micro-manages the refinement of the deck. I have seen millions of dollars of payroll burned up in developing and reviewing a single deck up the organization chart, even when existing non-PowerPoint reports contained the info more succinctly. But it isn't as pretty.

Each recipient manager has their own deck rules that must be obeyed. These rules include format, length, colors, and approved fonts. Woe-be-tied the manager whose presentation does not fit the prescribed format.

No longer is the quality of the information of paramount importance. It is purely form over substance. America has the greatest work force of deck developers in the world. It is good to know that as substantive strategic thinkers and real innovators are growing overseas, the decks of the remaining US employees will continue to be the best in the world.